Butterfly mops are characterized in that they comprise an elongate, foldable, compressible, liquid-absorbent member, such as a sponge, which is disposed at one end of a mop shaft, and which is used to absorb liquid, typically water, from a surface. When it is desired to expel liquid from the absorbent member, portions of the absorbent member are folded over one another along a transverse axis of the absorbent member and are compressed, using a folding mechanism such as a roller or track. Butterfly mops are so named because the folding and unfolding of the absorbent member along its transverse axis is said to resemble the motion of the wings of a butterfly.
One typical butterfly mop is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,892,201. As shown therein, the butterfly mop includes a liquid absorbent member, two plates connected to a surface of the liquid absorbent member, and an activating rod pivotally connected to each of the two plates. The plates are drawn along the dual arms of a yoke-like track to thereby fold the liquid absorbent member over onto itself and to compress the liquid absorbent member within a compression space disposed between and defined by the dual arms of the track. Numerous other butterfly mops are known in the prior art.
A problem with conventional butterfly mops is the difficulty inherent in manually applying sufficient force to the actuating mechanism to fold the liquid absorbent member over onto itself and to compress the liquid absorbent member sufficiently to satisfactorily expel liquid therefrom. Indeed, in typical butterfly mops, substantial physical effort may be required to compress the absorbent member. Another drawback lies in the difficulty of removing a spent liquid absorbent member and of attaching a new member.
One excellent butterfly mop is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/514,711, filed on Feb. 28, 2000. The invention seeks to provide a mop and mop components that improve upon prior art mops. In some respects, the invention seeks to improve upon the mop disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/514,711.